Symbolism In The Weight Of All Thing By Sandra Benitez

Sandra Benitez writes about a 9-year old boy, Nicolas, in between the 1980’s Salvadoran civil war in the novel The Weight of All Thing. The book starts of at a funeral where Nicolas’ mother, Lety Veras, dies. Not knowing she is dead he carries on to find his grandfather, Tata, at his home in El Rancho. Tata and Nicolas soon find themselves in between the civil war, having their home taken over by Guerrilla forces. Throughout the book he struggles to stay alive and cope with the war surrounding him. In the novel Nicolas encounters many symbols that help him during the war. One symbol is the lion, representing courage and bravery. Another, is the lamb represents peace and kindness. Lastly, La Virgen Milegrosa represents hope and possibility.

The symbol of the lion represents courage and bravery in which Nicolas follows. In the war Nicolas goes through many hardships that cause him to have to be brave. After the funeral Nicolas’ mom is taken, without knowledge of her death, he goes searching for her in the most likely places. Instead of crying he acts brave and looks for his mother in the most likely place she would be. When the army finds and attacks El Rancho, killing several people, Nicolas has to be like the lion. Because Tata is sick when they attack, Nicolas has to be brave and sneak out to get him water. Nicolas ends up getting caught by the army but is brave and protects his grandfather by telling the lieutenant, “The guerrillas took him, mi teniente. They took me too, but I got away” (134; ch.22). Instead of getting both him and Tata caught, he lied to protect his grandfather from the army. Nicolas finds strength and courage even when lost and confused during the war. He finds himself, at times, having to act like a

the symbol of the lamb represents the lost. Nicolas is constantly lost in the story. We first see Nicolas lost when he and his mother attend Archbishop Romero’s funeral in San Salvador. His mother is shot while protecting Nicolas and is removed by volunteers. Nicolas is lost at this point because he does not know where his mother is and is new to the area. Towards the end of the book when Nicolas is taken to the Garrison Ofelia says “You’re like a little lost lamb” (162; ch.25). While talking to Ofelia about her child, she realizes that Nicolas is all by his self and lost. This is a sad realization and reminder that he’s lost. When Ofelia says this Nicolas struggles to hold back tears because he is lost like a lamb. Lastly, he found himself lost and confused when deciding to stay or leave Senor Alvarado’s home. Basilio Fermin is supposed to go get Nicolas to live with his mother’s old employers because she died. He is lost and conflicted whether or not he should stay and wait for him or leave and go search for his grandfather. Many times Nicolas can be viewed as lost during the war just as a